Today I visited the School of Public Health (SPH) at Michigan to discuss my projects for the summer. :)

The last time I worked there, I was in a sketchy hallway on top of a tanning salon, but then this was built shortly after:

It’s lovely inside. I have never met an unfriendly person at SPH. As soon as you walk in, it’s all smiles and waves (not in a creepy way). The “save the world” energy is awesome. In a basic science research building, you don’t automatically sense that…it’s intense and most people keep to themselves. You occasionally might say hi to someone you know as they head to the autoclave room but unless they just found the perfect band on a Western blot that day, you won’t get a beaming smile. It’s hard to put on that kind of smile if positive results are far and rare, but it’s nice to be in a new environment.

The first project I will be working on is CATCH-PATH: Community Approaches to Cardiovascular Health: Pathways to Heart Health. That’s the other thing about working at SPH: TONS OF ACRONYMS!!! For example, my last project was called GEMINI: Genetics, Ethics, and Meaning Initiative.

Anyway, CATCH-PATH is an intervention program that promotes physical activity in Detroit to lower the risk of cardiovascular disease in low-income communities. The program creates walking groups, because walking is an easy and effective form of exercise since gyms are pretty limited and expensive. In recent years, Detroit has been named one of the most obese cities in the country. CATCH-PATH is hoping to get more members of the community into shape.

Since many of the participants don’t have regular primary care providers, SPH employees and volunteers also check blood pressure and cholesterol levels to give participants an idea of their health before the start of the program.

On Saturday mornings, I will be heading to Detroit to distribute pedometers and translate for Spanish-speakers. I am really looking forward to meeting the participants!! I really admire their goals of getting in shape…especially considering that some of them have never exercised before in their lives.

For the second project, I will help a recent graduate of SPH write a manuscript for a book on lice for the public. I had never really thought about lice before in serious terms, but today I learned that it is a big social health issue. I will be calling major school districts in the nation to ask about their lice policies, and focus on the racial or class discrimination that may exist in these policies. Since I’m working with someone with a non-science background, I’ll do research for a chapter about the biology of lice.

I’m really excited about these projects. I hope to learn a lot and contribute positively. :)

Thanks for reading!

btw, I’m still trying to come up with a title for my blog…I’ve seen some really clever ones on NN!!